Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #871521 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Identity issues involving a child of mixed heritage get a supernatural spin in this affecting coming-of-age tale. Ariella Montero's mother vanished the day she was born, leaving her to the care of her overprotective scientist father, who homeschools her and limits her contact with the outside world. Only when she reaches adolescence does Ari discover that her special diet and insular home life set her apart from her peers. Her father's confession that he was vampirized shortly before marriage, and that Ari can choose whether to be undead like him or mortal like mom, set her off on a road trip that eventually brings her to her mother and into an understanding of tough truths about her family. Hubbard (Walking on Ice) delineates Ari's world of innocent and uncertain adolescence with uncommon poignance and forgoes sensationalism for sensitivity in her depiction of vampirism as one of many emotionally charged challenges Ari faces as a child of estranged parents. She doesn't do much original with the vampire theme, but the novel's open ending suggests inevitable sequels where this may develop further. Author tour. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–Think of a jigsaw puzzle, Ariella Montero writes in her journal. Even when it isn't assembled, the pieces scattered in the box contain the picture. Ariella is 13 and very sheltered. She is homeschooled by her father, a scientist, and lives in a large Victorian house. Ariella wants to know all about her mother, who disappeared when the girl was born, and about the world and where she fits into it. Through Mrs. McGarrit, the housekeeper, she meets other teens and starts questioning her own lifestyle. Going to the library with Mrs. McGarrit's daughter, Ariella finds the Internet, and the answers to her questions lead her into danger. It seems that the Monteros are vampires. At least Mr. Montero is, and now it is more important than ever to Ariella to find her mother. How she solves the mystery of her family's unhappiness, as well as how to cope with her own feelings and problems, form the plot. This is a solid story of a girl coming of age, wanting her family to be together, and wishing to belong to something. The author doesn't use supernatural elements as a crutch, but instead they enhance an already strong narrative.–Dana Cobern-Kullman, Luther Burbank Middle School, Burbank, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Ariella Montero comes from a broken home, always a stigma for a teenager trying desperately to fit in. After Ari's mother disappeared on the night she was born, Ari was left in the care of her charismatic but secretive father, an overly protective recluse who, Ari comes to suspect, is a vampire. But wait, it gets worse. [...] Ari begins to wonder if she might be one, too. The girl's got questions, but Dad doesn't have all the answers, so Ari runs away from home, embarking on a picaresque journey to find her mother, the one person Ari believes holds the key to her true identity. As she hitchhikes her way through the country, Ari discovers much about herself but nearly loses her life in the process. Eschewing the sleep-all-day/prey-all-night school of vampire lore, Hubbard instead creates marginally mainstream characters, ones whose desires and fears, plans and dreams have nothing do to with the thrill of the kill. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Wonderful. Do NOT miss this read!
Susan Hubbard is already an award-winning short story writer, but the Society of S is my first encounter with her work. It won't be my last, though. I absolutely love this book.

Ariella Montero is an atypical 13 YO girl who desperately wants to find the secret behind her mother's disappearance immediately after her birth. Ariella is homeschooled by her impossibly handsome and equally mysterious father, who works as a scientist in the basement when he isn't schooling his daughter in literature, history, science and philosophy. When dad isn't teaching or experimenting, he sits quietly and peacefully in his conservatory reading Edgar Allan Poe and drinking Picardo.

Susan Hubbard has created a completely believable and empathetic cast of characters, characters that I hope to see much more of in the future. For anyone who loves literary mystery, vampire tales, inventive writing and a great story, this book is an absolute must read. Hubbard's experience as a short story writer has taught her how to pace her novel. Having suffered through a few over-rated and long-winded reads this year only to finish them feeling cheated, I can say for certain that there is a great deal to be said for a writer who knows how to set up a story and actually deliver the goods throughout the book at certain points.

You will not be disappointed in the time it takes to polish off this atmospheric 300-page wonder. A good story that is well told, well paced, exciting, interesting...I can't say enough good things about this book. Don't miss the Society of S.

A deviation from typical vampire lore, but just as riveting
In a surprising deviation from conventional vampire lore, Susan Hubbard has created a coming of age novel that is elegantly written and lingers long after the last page has turned. But if readers are expecting the typical tale of lusty vampires mired in melancholia, then the unraveling journey of young Ariella Montero might prove a bit tame.

The Society of S evolves meticulously to chronicle the quest of 13-year-old Ariella who endeavors to solve the mystery surrounding the disappearance of her mother. But every clue brings her closer to discovering her own true nature-an identity that her father has strangely suppressed.

Issues begin to plague her beyond normal teenage angst-why is her mirror image always skewed? Why can't her father be photographed? Why is she always anemic? Who is watching her in the shadows? What is going on in the basement with her father's research with Seradrone? Something is churning in the depths of her that she doesn't recognize-something not entirely human. And it wants out.

As these permutations unveil in their gloomy Saratoga Springs manse, her research scientist father observes the ultimate experiment in his daughter, with a curious detached fascination-determined that nature take its course without interference. Has he begat a predator, a distinctive "other", or an ordinary mortal?

Hubbard cautiously skirts around the issue, as if not ready to let go of the secret of Ariella and her father. There is no exclamatory "a ha!" once the secret is revealed. Strangely devoid of the passion that makes vampire mythology so enticing, Hubbard engages in subtlety. There are no vampires morphing into bats, or lashing out in dramatic fights with antique Valenciennes lace at their necks.

While it may not be a "Hollywood" or "Bram Stoker" vision, or even resemble anything closely to Anne Rice, the Society of S begs to challenge the reader by analyzing what it means to be immortal through the eyes of literature. Clearly the pursuit of knowledge is the theme throughout the book and a worthy occupation for the undead.

Readers will be strangely riveted by Hubbard's take on the modern vampire, despite the apparent mundane suburban feel within the fabric of the plot. But the novel captures an indefinable something that makes it appealing as well. Worth the read to discover that the journey is just as important as the destination.Copyright(c)Nicola Mattos

An excellent coming of age with a vamp twist
Ariella Montero thinks she's just like any other 13 year old. She is home schooled, vegetarian, limited contact with outsiders, and her main learning about life comes from her father Raphael, and his assistant Dennis. They have a housekeeper who comes in to cook - she's not that great, but she sees that Ariella needs some contact with kids around her own age. She takes Ariella to her house and she finds there is another world out there - she makes friends and brings into her life questions about her own home life - she finds her father is a vampire - and her mother, who left just after giving birth to Ariella was a mortal. Ariella may well be a vampire or a mortal - that has not been determined. Ariella leaves home in search of her mother, to find out why she left and to find answers of what Ariella is part of.
Hubbard shows us the lives of modern day vampires - while a good bite on the neck is good, the more civilized way of sustaining life is through breakthrough technology of supplements and tonics. They can eat, walk in the light (with sunscreen), and integrate themselves in the mainstream of life. There are radicals and there are folks like The Society of S, where vampires can, without conflict, be themselves and not be the subject of fear from humans.
Very heady information for a 13 year old girl discovering herself and her identity. It is a well written book that weaves you through lives of primarily Ariella, but through her family, friends, and 'wannabe vampires' role playing not knowing what that reality really is.
Will be interesting if a sequel is written where it takes Ariella and her family.
A good read.